


in a new light

by sunprincewonpil (astrorarepairs)



Category: 30歳まで童貞だと魔法使いになれるらしい | Cherry Magic! Thirty Years of Virginity Can Make You a Wizard?! (TV)
Genre: Aromantic Asexual Fujisaki, Friendship, Gen, M/M, in future chapters she gets to meet tsuge and minato, no romantic pairings for fujisaki here - it's all friendship!
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2021-02-11
Updated: 2021-03-15
Packaged: 2021-03-17 22:08:20
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 3
Words: 4,863
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/29357733
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/astrorarepairs/pseuds/sunprincewonpil
Summary: Fujisaki had always spent her weekends watching movies and series she couldn't catch during weekdays, trying out new recipes, and recently, studying for her exam. But after Christmas and as they entered the new year, one day out of her weekend now seemed to be allotted for Rokkaku.or: Fujisaki becomes friends with her coworkers, meets new ones, and realizes she is very much not alone in being different.
Relationships: Adachi Kiyoshi/Kurosawa Yuichi, Fujisaki Nozomi & Adachi Kiyoshi, Fujisaki Nozomi & Kurosawa Yuichi, Fujisaki Nozomi & Rokkaku Yuta
Comments: 16
Kudos: 57





	1. the rokkaku dilemma (part 1)

**Author's Note:**

> i am so excited and nervous to be posting this fic, because as an aroace myself i really love fujisaki (and i forever thank the writers for her existence) but i also didn't want to project onto her too much. 
> 
> i just wanted to write something that would explore her character more and her friendships with the others, and hopefully you guys enjoy reading this, too :)

Fujisaki had always spent her weekends watching movies and series she couldn't catch during weekdays, trying out new recipes, and recently, studying for her exam. She never had anything particularly special to do during her days off, and that was how she liked it—she had two days to rest and recharge her social batteries that the office (and her mother, too, when she chooses to call and interrogate her) always exhausts.

But after Christmas and as they entered the new year, one day out of her weekend now seemed to be allotted for Rokkaku.

“Kurosawa-san and Adachi-paisen are always busy,” he had pouted as he bit the edge of his coffee cup one afternoon, while Fujisaki had to stifle a giggle. She found it cute how Rokkaku had no idea about Toyokawa’s new couple, despite being around them all the time. There were whispers all over their floor about Kurosawa and Adachi’s  _ closeness, _ ranging from people who found the thought of them together ridiculous and to their coworkers who were just basking in the sparkling aura the two gave off, but Rokkaku still seemed clueless. “And Minato wants to spend his weekends with his new boyfriend.” 

Fujisaki pursed her lips and hummed in sympathy. “I can go with you, if you want to go somewhere. As a thank you for lighting up fireworks with me on Christmas.”

Rokkaku’s face immediately lightened up. He reminded Fujisaki of a puppy hearing that they would get to take a walk outside—and just like a puppy, she couldn’t bear to see him disappointed. “Really? Let’s go shopping, Fujisaki-san! I know this nice vintage thrift shop that has a lot of barely used designer clothes, I always went there when I was in college...”

Little did Fujisaki know—that one conversation was a catalyst for her well-maintained routine to change.

“Fujisaki-san, do you want to go to a museum? A client gave me tickets as a gift.”

“Fujisaki-san, my friends cancelled on me again.”

“I’ll be scouting some restaurants I can take clients to; do you want to come with, Fujisaki-san?”

And more often than not, she finds herself agreeing to go with him. 

She did like how she spent her weekends before, but hanging out with Rokkaku and getting to know him more wasn't all too bad, either.

  
  
  
  


“Fujisaki-san, look! Isn’t that Kurosawa-san?”

She immediately spots Kurosawa in the direction Rokkaku was pointing at—their coworker was standing tall and looking like a fashion model even though he wasn’t doing anything. But beside him, Fujisaki could also see a head full of messy hair, ducked while peering at a bookstore window. A soft smile grew on her face at the sight of them before she remembered who she was with.

Fujisaki had been witness to the many times that Rokkaku had unknowingly interrupted Kurosawa and Adachi, whether it was at lunch, during the brief moments they could say goodbye to each other before Kurosawa had to go to a client, or even after office hours and before they went home. He just seemed to pop up everywhere, like he had a radar for his two favorite seniors, and wiggled his way into whatever they were doing. She had seen those happen, and Fujisaki had no idea she had a high tolerance for secondhand embarrassment until she became close with Rokkaku.

Pulling at Rokkaku’s sleeve, Fujisaki squeezed behind the cloth banner of an okonomiyaki restaurant.

Rokkaku turned to look at her. “Why are we hiding?”

_ Because you're about to ruin your senpais' date, _ she wanted to say, but that wasn't something she could just blurt out. 

“Oh, nothing. I was just surprised to see a familiar face. Maybe we should—” Rokkaku chuckled and gave her the same look he did when she asked him to set off the fireworks with her last Christmas. He shook off her hold on his shirt.

“Kurosawa-san! Ah, and Adachi-paisen’s here, too?” Fujisaki tries to haul him back to hiding but too late—Rokkaku had already run up to them and wrapped Adachi in a bear hug, not even noticing that the two were holding hands and just let go when he came hurtling towards them. The urge to facepalm was strong, but Fujisaki settled for smiling at Kurosawa instead, whose eyebrows were twitching.

“Rokkaku?” Adachi blinked at him, his eyes big and his mouth agape. “What are you doing here?”

"What a small world!" their junior beamed. He was too amazed by the fact that he accidentally met his seniors outside of the office to realize he hadn't answered Adachi's question.

“Fujisaki-san, Rokkaku, good morning. Did you also meet each other by chance?” Kurosawa asked, and both of them shook their heads.

“Rokakku-kun told me about this new cafe that had unique cake flavors, so we wanted to try it.”

Kurosawa let out an "ohh" and was nodding, but Fujisaki could see on his face that he couldn't quite believe they were friends, or close enough to be hanging out on weekends. Not that she blamed him—they  _ were _ quite an odd pair. It wasn’t like they were always together in the office to be seen as friends by their coworkers.

“No way, we’re going there, too,” Adachi said.

“Let’s all go together!” suggested Rokkaku, causing Kurosawa and Adachi’s faces to fall slightly—but of course, he didn’t notice that.

Fujisaki taps the junior on his shoulder. “Rokkaku-kun, Kurosawa-kun and Adachi-kun might have something else to do before going to the cafe.”

“Aw, really? This would be the first time the four of us would eat together on a weekend.”

The two shared a look, communicating with their eyes, until Kurosawa smiled at Adachi and nodded. “It’s alright, we don’t have other plans.”

“Yes! Come on, senpai!” Rokkaku yelled, and he started pushing on Adachi's shoulders. Kurosawa watched them with a smile that looked both fond and pained, sighing as he trailed behind them.

Fujisaki fell into step beside him. “Kurosawa-kun, I’m sorry. You were on a date with Adachi-kun, weren’t you?”

“Don’t be sorry, it’s okay—this was a lucky coincidence." He pauses for a moment, then lowers his voice. "Were you on a date, too?”

There was a sparkle in Kurosawa's eyes that surprised Fujisaki, like he was excited about her answer. It wasn't so obvious, especially when she barely talked to him in the past, but Kurosawa was quite the romantic.

“No no no, it’s not like that,” she denied with a laugh, only a little sorry to burst his bubble, but Kurosawa just smiled and apologized for his presumption. “Rokkaku-kun has been my partner in crime recently.”

Kurosawa raised his eyebrows. “Partner in crime?”

She mimicked his action, not concealing the mischief in her face, and they both laughed. Neither Kurosawa and Adachi knew about the fireworks; even with how talkative Rokkaku is, he hasn’t said a thing to his seniors after Fujisaki told him not to. She’d rather keep it a secret from them for a little while—there was a part of her that was scared that they would think she was sticking her nose into their business.

“I was surprised to see you with Rokkaku on a weekend, Fujisaki-san. I didn’t know you were close.”

“We’ve been going out a lot lately, shopping and eating. Rokkaku-kun knows a lot of good places.”

As they walked, the conversation fell into a comfortable lull, but Kurosawa's innocent assumption that they were on a date somehow kept echoing inside Fujisaki's mind. 

She thought about how Rokkaku sometimes picks her up from her apartment or sees her off to her train station after their day out, and how they split the bill when they eat but Rokkaku would buy dessert for Fujisaki to take home, refusing her insistence to pay for it. She thought about how he would even text her to make sure she had arrived at her apartment safely, which she found sweet.

For Fujisaki, hanging out with Rokkaku were just times spent with a new friend—a coworker she was getting to know better outside of their office.

  
But could it be that Rokkaku thought they’ve been going on  _ dates? _


	2. the rokkaku dilemma (part 2)

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> oh wow, the first chapter got so much nice feedback! thank you so much, i didn't expect that at all ; u ;
> 
> in this chapter we're delving in more about fujisaki's character, so here are some disclaimers:  
> 
> 
>   * what i've written here is just one experience of being aroace; i'm not trying to speak for everyone because it's still different from person to person
>   * i have not read the manga so their characterization is just based on the little the drama showed us and my own interpretations
> 

> 
> hope you enjoy this chapter as well!

Fujisaki was no stranger to rejection.

As snobby as it sounded, rejection was something she got used to—because she was always at the giving end of it.

It had started in middle school, when one of her closest friends confessed to her and Fujisaki had realized that she felt the same way he did—she always felt happy being with him, she found herself thinking about him when they were apart, and his laughter sometimes made her heart pound against her chest—but her feelings weren’t romantic like his. Anything beyond being friends had never once crossed her mind.

“But we can still be friends, like before. Right?” she had asked, almost pleaded, full of hope and trust in the friendship they had built for three years.

“Boys and girls can’t be just friends,” had been his reply and the last thing he had ever said to her before they graduated.

Everyone in her class liked talking about their painful experiences with one-sided crushes, rejections, breakups—but no one had ever told her about how gutting it was to lose a friend.

Despite the rarity, things didn’t always crash and burn after someone confessed their feelings for her. Sometimes they ended with a back and forth of apologies, awkward smiles, quiet acceptance of her rejection, and Fujisaki hoping that they could meet a better person—someone who could feel the same things they do.

In the end, she didn’t regret any of those, even if she became the subject of tease (and pity, which was even worse) during college due to her lack of dating history and even if her mother’s hair was getting whiter and whiter each day because of Fujisaki’s adamance on being single.

She regretted nothing, and she felt proud of her past self for being strong and staying true to her feelings. Just like what she said to Adachi around last Christmas, Fujisaki had to learn how to like herself that made those decisions—but it was still difficult to completely extinguish the voice in the back of her head that told her to change, to be closer to society’s definition of normal.

She learned how to be proud of herself, because she didn’t think anyone else would be.

  
  
  
  
  


Fujisaki was not a stranger to rejection, but that didn’t mean it got easier.

Not that she was rejecting Rokkaku in the literal sense of the word. She just needed to clear things up and make sure there wouldn’t be any space for misunderstanding in the future. She likes Rokkaku, treasures the time they spend together, and she wants to continue friends with him—that’s why she had to do this. 

“Rokkaku-kun, can I talk to you about something?”

“Of course.” Her junior had a stack of binders in front of him while munching an onigiri in one hand, the other reaching for his huge cup of iced coffee. He looked up when she called his name, and in a rare display sensitivity, Rokkaku seemed to notice her mood. “You sound serious, Fujisaki-san. Should I be scared?”

“No, it’s nothing bad.”

“It’s not? I was starting to think I’m about to get fired.”

Despite her nerves, Fujisaki let out a soft laugh. “I’m not your superior, Rokkaku. How would I know about that?”

“Someone might have told you. There may be rumors going around that I don’t know of,” he whispered behind one hand as he learned closer.

She wanted to keep joking with him, to bury what she wanted to say with lighthearted small talk, but she had to steer the conversation towards a more serious path. “Anyway, it’s definitely not that—”

“Rokkaku! Let’s go; the client suddenly moved up our meeting. Ah, hello, Fujisaki-san. We’ll be going out,” Kurosawa said in two breaths, zooming by them. He was out of the cafeteria as quickly as he appeared, and Fujisaki was left blinking after his shadow, slowly realizing that her plan had just been derailed.

“I’ll meet you by the elevator in less than five minutes, senpai!” Rokkaku shouted, even though Kurosawa had already gone. He gathered the binders into his arms, somehow able to hold all those, his onigiri, and his coffee at the same time. “Fujisaki-san, what were you going to say?”

“It wasn’t anything important. I’ll tell you next time,” she replied. She already knew there was no way she could squeeze in the conversation she wanted to have with Rokkaku, and she didn’t want to lay all of  _ that _ on him while he still had a client to meet, a job to focus on.

“If you say so...”

Rokkaku was being perceptive and Kurosawa was the one with a bad timing—the universe was out of balance, and it was adding to her stress. But there was nothing she could do except wave her junior goodbye and send him off with a “Take care.”

  
  
  
  
  


It so happened that Adachi needed to work overtime and had asked Fujisaki if she could help gather some data, which she immediately accepted so that she had a reason to stay in the office until Rokkaku came back. She couldn’t postpone the  _ talk, _ not when she was already this determined.

He invited her to eat once it became 7pm, but she refused, still too nervous and jittery that she wouldn’t be able to keep anything down. When he came back from the cafeteria, Adachi had given her a cup of hot tea after noticing how tense she was, but he didn’t ask about the cause. She didn’t open up to him either—Fujisaki wanted Rokkaku to be the first person to know about what she was feeling. Still, it was comforting to have Adachi's presence around.

“We’re back.”

The two salesmen entered their office with tired eyes and wrinkled foreheads, but they smiled as they saw Adachi and Fujisaki. “Welcome back.”

Before Kurosawa could even approach his desk, Adachi wrapped a hand around his elbow and led him out of the office. “We’ll be going ahead. Thank you for helping me, Fujisaki-san. Bye, Rokkaku.”

“Good work today, senpai!” Rokkaku fixed his belongings and placed his files on top of his table while Fujisaki hovered beside him silently. She watched him with growing fear and anxiety; the worst case scenario was she loses him as a friend and makes things awkward in the office, not just for her, but for Kurosawa and Adachi who were close to both of them as well.

She was scared, but she had to be truthful with him. “Rokkaku-kun.”

“Yes?”

"You know… I'm not interested in dating, relationships, or anything that has to do with romance." Her mouth felt dry and her chest was tight, but once she got the words out, she couldn't stop. "I’ve always felt this way, even after so many matchmaking dates and chances to be with someone. Everyone around me kept telling me that I just needed to find the right person, but I don’t think that’s the case with me. I like people, I fall in love—just not in the way others do. It’s not what's normal, but this is who I am, this is what I feel."

Oh god, where was she going with this? Rokkaku was just staring at her open-mouthed, probably horrified with all the heavy, personal baggage she unloaded on him. “I just…”

“That’s so nice, Fujisaki-san.”

She blinked. 

“I think that there's nothing better than knowing yourself and being able to say it proudly.” While scratching his head, Rokkaku went on, “To tell you the truth, I have no idea what I feel about things like that. I don’t really think about it? I just go with the flow. And I guess right now I care more about being a better salesman.”

Fujisaki wanted to laugh at herself. Rokkaku didn’t think they were dating, after all—she had just gone and panicked by herself because she was scared of their friendship changing. It was a relief that she hadn’t been able to mention  _ that _ when she was giving her messy speech.

But surprise shortly overtook embarrassment, because she knew that her junior wasn’t the type to share anything too personal; when they would eat together and chat, he would always tell her stories about his dance club friends, the clients he and Kurosawa meet, and even about Minato’s boyfriend’s cat, but rarely about himself. 

“There’s nothing wrong with that, Rokkaku-kun. It's perfectly fine,” she reassured him after she had snapped out of her thoughts, and he grinned.

"You're being who you want to be and living the life you want to live." He pumped a fist towards his chest and gave a firm nod. “I’ll also work hard, Fujisaki-san!”

There would be days when it was more difficult to like herself and society's expectations would weigh on her, but she knows she would remember  _ this _ during those times: Rokkaku’s kind words and the support on top of acceptance that he had given her.

"Rokkaku-kun," she softly called out. "Thank you for being my friend."

"I should thank  _ you, _ Fujisaki-san. For being my senpai in work and in life that I can look up to."

A laugh bubbled out of her and Rokkaku did the same, and then they were just giggling together for barely any reason at all—but a loud grumbling sound disturbed the moment.

"You haven't had dinner yet?"

"No. I couldn't eat," Fujisaki replied, embarrassed once again.

Rokkaku dramatically gasped and started ushering her towards the elevator. "It's almost 9 pm, you must be starving! Let's go, Fujisaki-san, I know a good restaurant that's open until midnight."

"I'll treat you this time. I'm your senpai, after all."

"Okay, but I'll be paying for dessert."

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> kudos and comments are very welcome, let me know what you thought of this chapter :')
> 
> in the next one, adachi will finally appear for more than a few sentences yay!!


	3. bento crash course

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> i am so sorry for the long wait! enjoy this chapter, still fresh off google docs because i don't want it to be an entire month since the last update 😓

“What is it?”

If it was any other person, Fujisaki would greet them with a smile and wouldn’t dare to take a tone. In the office, she had learned how to be  _ nice  _ all the time, even with the coworkers that she didn’t particularly like. But her mother—she was a different matter completely.

“We’re going shopping for your dress next week, don’t forget,” her mother replied, not one for pleasantries either, at least not when it came to her children. “The wedding’s less than a month away.”

“Alright.”

“Izumi-san’s son is going to drive me to your apartment. I’ll introduce him to you. He owns a small local business and he isn’t married yet.”

She let out a sharp exhale. Her mother never gave her any break, even after all her failed attempts at matchmaking. How many more would it take to get her to stop? “Why can’t Nii-san drive you to my apartment like he always does?”

“He’s taking his wife to the doctor, remember? They’re going to get an ultrasound for the new baby,” she said and Fujisaki could hear the underlying excitement in her voice. Sometimes, she felt bad that she wouldn’t be the reason for that kind of happiness her mother wanted; but other times, like today, she just couldn’t care.

Her doorbell rang. The relief she felt was immeasurable, even if she knew that her mother would continue the conversation some other time—the escape would only be temporary, but she’ll take what she can get. 

“I have to go, mom, I have a visitor.”

“Is it a guy? Are you  _ finally _ seeing someone—”

She hung up and reminded herself to put a smile on her face no matter how much her mood had plummeted.

“Hi, Adachi-kun,” she greeted her coworker as she opened the door. Beside him was a man wearing a pair of glasses and looked tall enough to almost reach the top of her doorway. “And you must be Tsuge-san.”

He bowed, and so did Adachi. “Thanks for having us, Fujisaki-san. Sorry for getting in the way of your studying.”

“Not at all! Come in, come in.”

  
  
  
  
  


Fujisaki was surprised when Adachi had approached her one afternoon in the cafeteria, asking if she could teach him how to make a bento. 

“I want to return the favor, since Kurosawa’s always cooking for us. I figured it would be nice to give him a bento when he goes on one-day business trips,” he had said. It was such a  _ cute _ thing to say—Fujisaki had to resist the urge to coo and pat Adachi on the head (that would be definitely out of line). How could she not agree to teach him?

Later that night, he’d texted her if he could bring his friend along, and she had said yes, wondering about whether Adachi’s friend would be similar to him or the exact opposite.

She now looked at the pair, sitting on her couch that looked too small for two men; both had their hands settled on top of their knees, glancing at each other as if wondering who was going to speak first. Adachi always seemed nervous, specifically in the office, but his friend even more so. It was a new sight.

Adachi shyly reached out a hand towards her coffee table. “You baked these, Fujisaki-san?”

“I did, though I forgot to buy white chocolate chips so I couldn’t add any. Are they okay?”

“They’re so good! Tsuge dragged me to a baking class once when he was researching for his novel, and we were able to make cookies but they spread out like a sheet. They were hard, too. But these are really nice, they’re crispy but also chewy,” Adachi shared, munching on a matcha cookie. Fujisaki smiled at him as she brewed tea; she liked hearing the sound of Adachi’s voice, especially in the rare times he got quite talkative.

Adachi’s friend nudged him with his elbow and hissed, “Shouldn’t have mentioned the novel part.”

“Ah! Sorry,” he whispered back. Fujisaki could clearly hear them both even from her kitchen, but she pretended otherwise out of courtesy. Although she was a bit curious if Tsuge really was a writer; maybe she could ask about it next time, if there would be a chance that they’d meet again.

She set down the teapot in front of them and opened the box of assorted tarts they had brought as a gift, taking a bite out of an egg tart. It seemed that she now had a reputation as someone who really loved sweets, probably because Rokkaku often brought her cakes and pastries in the office. Fujisaki _ did _ have a sweet tooth, though, so she didn’t mind. 

She observed Adachi, who had been staring at the pictures stuck on her wall with washi tape, intentionally scattered above her desk and surrounded by colorful postcards and memos. Fujisaki pointed at the largest photo. “That’s my family. I have two older siblings and one younger sister.” 

Adachi gaped at it. “There are so many people in the picture.” 

“Nii-san and Nee-san already have their own families so I have a lot of godchildren, while my sister is getting married next month,” she said, a weary sigh slipping out of her lips. Adachi only nodded.

"There's a picture of us, too?" he asked as he stood up and took small steps toward her desk. Tsuge followed, although a bit hesitant. Fujisaki silently thanked him for changing the subject, because if they talked about her family more, she might end up spilling her bitterness and woes to them—which wasn’t what they came for.

"I don't know if you remember, but this was the company dinner we had when I first started working in Toyokawa."

“Adachi, were you glaring at Kurosawa?” Tsuge pointed out when he studied the photo.

“Eh? Me?” Kurosawa was surrounded by grinning women in the picture, and beside him, Adachi was giving him a look that obviously wasn’t friendly. “Oh no, I  _ was. _ I can’t remember why, though.”

Before Adachi could dwell on the past, Fujisaki decided to return the favor and change the subject again. “I'll just prepare what we need in the kitchen. Is there anything in particular you want to learn how to do?”

“Fujisaki-san, could you perhaps teach me how to make a cat? I—In the bento?” Tsuge asked, his words coming out shaky but determined. “My partner likes my cat, probably more than he likes me.”

Fujisaki didn’t know what she expected Tsuge to say, but it certainly wasn’t that. He and Adachi shared a certain kind of unexpected cuteness. “Sure. I have a kit we can use. Adachi-kun, what about you?”

“Um, I guess I want to learn how to cook food that isn’t too sweet or spicy. Kurosawa can’t really handle spice, even though he pretends he can,” said Adachi, smiling to himself. She was getting familiar with that specific type of smile, since she always saw Kurosawa with the same look when he talked about Adachi.

“Okay, got it,” Fujisaki replied cheerfully, trying to push down the lump in her throat and ignore the voice in the back of her head that sounded awfully like her mother:  _ See, people your age are already settling down with someone. _

_ Don’t they look really happy with their partners?  _

_ Why can’t you be like them?  _

_ Why are you being so stubborn? _

She turned back, still making sure to look pleasant and bubbly. “Ah, Tsuge-san. Could you show me pictures of your cat?”

“O—of course!”

  
  
  
  
  


Fujisaki was tired after a four-and-a-half-hour crash course on cooking and preparing bento, but Adachi and Tsuge were fast learners who never gave up even when they found something difficult, so teaching them felt rewarding. 

Tsuge had a permanent frown on his face when making cat-shaped onigiri and placing the tiny details made out of nori using a toothpick (which he failed at several times)—but the smile he had on his face after the bento was done was the definition of pleased. When she pointed that out, he blushed and stammered out apologies.

Meanwhile, Adachi had ended up focusing on making different types of sandwiches and onigiri since he wanted to make a bento that Kurosawa could eat with ease even on the go.

She noticed that he had a tendency to pout when he was concentrating, which she found cute. She'd like to stop overusing that word when it came to her coworker who was two years older than her, but she couldn’t help it—Adachi was cute. That was just a fact. Fujisaki had taken photos of him (with his bashful permission), knowing Kurosawa would be over the moon to see those once the bento wasn't a surprise anymore.

When Tsuge had gone out to the hallway to take a phone call from his work, Adachi approached Fujisaki in her kitchen as she was putting away utensils.

“What I said before… I still mean it,” he said after taking a deep breath. She wrinkled her eyebrows a little, not knowing what he was referring to.

“Adachi-kun?”

“Uh, when we were in the cafe, months ago.” Fujisaki nodded, recalling the memory. How could she ever forget that time when she felt like someone drew back the curtains in her life and let light in? “Life doesn’t need love or romance to be worthwhile. It’s not like those are the only sources of happiness. But this must be rich, coming from someone who’s in a relationship. S—sorry.” 

_ Oh. _

Was it obvious that her mind was full of noise and that wisps of self-doubt were starting to grip her? She knew herself, she knew not to be bogged down by pressure, but there were times that she would feel like she needed to change or else she would be left behind, alone and miserable, and her mother would look down on her and say,  _ What did I tell you? _

Fujisaki thought she was hiding it well, but Adachi had always been perceptive. 

She shook her head, blinking back the tears that threatened to fall. It always felt overwhelming, to be seen by someone. “I know you mean it, Adachi-kun. Thank you.”

“And, um. We should do this more often. Don’t only hang out with Rokkaku.” As Fujisaki laughed at the mention of their junior, Adachi's smile brightened. “Tsuge and I, we’re your friends, too.”

Friends.  _ Friends.  _ It was such a simple word but it filled her with a wave of emotions, because that’s the thing, isn’t it—she viewed friendships as important and precious as how others held romantic relationships. Hearing Adachi say it reminded her that she was happiest like this, that she didn’t want anything else no matter how much society tries to tell her otherwise.

Other people look at her and see someone who was fundamentally flawed, whose life would always be unfulfilled—but how lucky was she to have friends who see none of that, who understand and support her, who never pressure her to change even though they don’t feel the same way she does? 

“Adachi-kun. Thank you,” she repeated, unable to stop her voice from breaking. The last thing she saw was Adachi’s worried face before she shut her eyes and let the tears flow.

“Oh—oh no, Fujisaki-san, please don’t cry!”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> adachi and fujisaki are /the/ friendship otp, sorry tsuge i still love you
> 
> i can't promise when the next chapter would be, but i will keep writing for this! for the meantime, i hope you liked this chapter and pls let me know what you thought!

**Author's Note:**

> the rokkaku dilemma continues on to the next chapter, which i can post soon, hopefully.
> 
> let me know what you think! kudos and comments are very much appreciated :'0
> 
> (also, if you like, hit me up on twt [@itoldmoonrise](https://twitter.com/itoldmoonrise))


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